Recently, a study published in “Science Reports” showed that the human brain is inherently equipped with the “hardware” to recognize text symbols, which lays the foundation for people to learn to read.
By analyzing newborn brain scans, the researchers found that the visual word forming area (VWFA) of the brain is connected to the language network of the brain. The authors, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University Zeynep Saygin said: “This provides a fertile ground for the development of child-sensitive visual language, even when the child is not in contact with any language, this sensitivity existed.”
Before Some researchers speculate that VWFA is no different from other parts of the visual cortex at the beginning. These parts are sensitive to faces, scenes or other objects, but after children start to learn to read, the acquired experience reshapes the VWFA.
”We found that this is not the case. Even at birth, compared to other areas of the brain, VWFA is more closely related to the function of the brain’s language network. This is an exciting discovery.” Saygin said.
Saygin said: “Even before we came into contact with words, VWFA already existed specifically to recognize words.”
The study also found some differences between newborns and adults VWFA. The results of the study indicate that as the baby matures, VWFA may be further improved. The experience of spoken and written language may strengthen the connection between VWFA and a specific language and further differentiate the functions of this area after people acquire literacy skills.
The research team is currently scanning the brains of children aged 3 to 4 to understand the role of VWFA before the children learn to read and which visual characteristics the area responds to. Knowing more about individual differences can help researchers understand the differences in reading behavior, and is also helpful for studying dyslexia and other developmental disorders.
